


Purrfect Comfort

by Freedom_Shamrock



Series: Miraculous Acts of Kindness [10]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Marichat, Marichat May
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 09:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10941762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freedom_Shamrock/pseuds/Freedom_Shamrock
Summary: Chat is eager to visit his new girlfriend for retro video games with her parents, but Marinette is off her game.  Can her kitty help cheer her up?





	Purrfect Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Chronologically follows "I'm yours."

Chat bounded across rooftops, eager for his evening visit with his girlfriend.  **Girlfriend!** He had a girlfriend. Secret, girlfriend, of course, but still awesome. 

He’d been required to attend a Gabriel vision meeting that took all morning, followed by back-to-back shoots this afternoon. But the knowledge that Mari and her family would be waiting for him to show up for retro video game night was enough to help him power through. As luck had it, he’d been released early, and had wasted no time locking himself in his room and escaping his father’s gilded cage.

He timed a leap just right to catch a light-pole to swing his trajectory back up and to the next roof. As he closed in on the T & S Bakery, he slowed down and moved into the shadows. He’d always been careful to keep his visits out of the public eye. At this point, he was in far too deep to stop, and he had no contingency plan if things went wrong. He should probably do something about that, but to be honest, he was much better at planning on the fly. Ladybug was the team’s longer range strategist.

As he dropped to Marinette’s balcony, he was surprised how dark her room was. He peeked in, half expecting to see her taking a cat nap, but she wasn’t there. She hadn’t minded him coming in through her window that one night, in the rain, so it was probably okay. He tapped a few times, so he could say that he had, before lifting the skylight to lower himself into her room.

“Princess?” he said quietly, looking around just to be sure she wasn’t at her desk or anything. There was no response. Her trapdoor was open, and he hesitated at the top of the stairs, listening before descending. He could hear Tom and Sabine, but Marinette was being unusually quiet. A little worried something was wrong, he took the stairs two at a time, something he’d learned to do specifically because it irritated his father.

“Good evening Chat,” Tom said, looking up from where he was crouched in front of the television. “Mari thought you'd be a bit yet.”

Chat nodded. “I was able to escape earlier than I expected.” He looked around. Sabine was in the middle of putting away dishes. “Where’s Mari?”

“She’s downstairs getting treats from the day’s leftovers,” Sabine explained, setting aside the pot she was scrubbing. Drying her hands as she walked, she crossed the room to him. “I want to warn you, she’s… something happened today, and it’s upset her, much more than she wants to admit.”

“What was it?” he asked, lowering his voice. His girlfriend would not approve of this conference, but he wanted to be prepared so he could help her.

Sabine shook her head. “She wouldn’t tell us. She just said something didn’t go as she’d hoped.” She frowned, little wrinkles creasing her forehead. “She doesn’t want to talk about it, but a burden shared…”

“Is a burden halved,” he finished for her. He smiled at her reaction. “Is there anything you can think of that will help?”

“You aren’t going to try to get her to talk about it?” Sabine asked, suspicious.

He shook his head. “If she wants to tell me, I’ll gladly listen, but if she doesn’t, I can still try to cheer her up.” He shrugged. “It’s her business to share or not.” He was suddenly pulled into a hug that reminded him of his girlfriend’s, given Sabine’s strength and size, but there was something decidedly different about it.  Something that reminded him of his own mother.

“You’re a good boyfriend,” Sabine said.

Chat beamed and he could feel the warmth of happiness suffusing his chest. “Did she tell you?”

Sabine laughed. “She didn’t need to, remember. I already knew.” She let him go.

Marinette arrived a few minutes later with a basket of treats. She looked tired, and her eyes were a little more red along the lower eyelash line than usual. “Oh, Chat, you’re early.” Her smile was warm, but smaller than he liked.

“Princess!” He hurried over to her and caught her in a hug, chuckling when she squeaked in response.

“Chat,” she whispered. “My parents.”

“Yeah, about that.” He set her down and leaned close to her ear. “We’re totally not fooling them. At  **all** .” When he straightened up, her cheeks were pink. “But that’s okay, right.”

“I guess,” she muttered.

“We can cuddle on the couch while we play,” he suggested.

She let out a defeated little sigh. “All right.”

They played for nearly two hours, trying out the games Tom had hauled out of the attic. While she normally dominated, Marinette clearly didn’t have her heart in it, and none of the teasing and flirting seemed to break through. Catching Tom’s eye, he glanced at his girlfriend and gave a little nod.

“This was great,” Chat said, slapping his hands down on his knees. “But this cat’s gotta scat. Can we do this again sometime?”

Tom smiled. “I’d love to. Let Marinette know when you’re available.”

Chat caught Marinette’s hand. “Come on Princess. You need to see me out.” He escorted her up to her room, rather than the other way around, releasing her and pausing to shut her trap door. “Come here,” he said gently, holding out his arms. “I don’t know what’s bothering you, and I don’t need to, if you’d rather not talk about it, but…” She turned and walked straight into his hold, her face pressed against him. “I hear this can help.”

She nodded, her cheek rubbing against him. “It really does. It may not seem like it, but everything you've done tonight helped.”

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded again. “Yeah. Just… disappointed in myself. Frustrated.”

It made him breathless, in a not good way, to hear her so sad. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not  **your** fault.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it is,” he suggested, teasing.

She snorted. “Unless you're Gabriel Agreste or the staffing manager at Gabriel, I’m pretty sure it’s not your fault.”

Hearing his father’s name in this circumstance made him feel as though an ice cube had gone down the back of his shirt. He fought the shiver. “I promise I’m neither.” Did his voice sound scratchy or was that his guilty conscience?

She squeezed him again. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked what’s wrong. Aren’t you curious?” She stepped back.

He nodded. “I am a cat, after all.” He bent to kiss her forehead before she could move too far out of reach. “But it’s your business, and I don’t want to be pushy.” He shrugged. “I don’t have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, but I know  **you** . And if you want to talk about it, you will.”

“How are you so perfect?” she asked. With another sigh, she caught his hand and pulled him over to the chaise. “I didn’t tell anyone because it seemed… bad luck, and I didn’t want anyone to know if I failed, which I did.”

He slipped his arm around her shoulders while she talked, just wanting to be near.

“I applied for a fall internship at Gabriel,” she said quietly. “I didn’t get it.”

“Oh Princess,” he whispered, desperately wanting to scoop her into his lap. He could feel the edge of a purr trying to push its way up his throat.

She shrugged. “It’s not entirely unexpected,” she admitted. “And it’s not like this is the first place to tell me no.” She picked up his hand and ran her fingers over his claws. “I’ve lost contests before, and I know what it’s like to be rejected. You kind of have to in this industry, but…”

“This one’s harder,” he said quietly. He knew exactly what she was talking about. “It meant more to you. Even with a lot of practice and experience, there are going to be rejections that hurt.” He coughed and swallowed, pushing back on his cat tendencies.

She nodded, giving him a half-smile. “Yeah. I guess.”

“But I need you to remember something, okay?” He turned toward her, gathering her hands in his. He waited until her beautiful eyes were visible again. “They didn’t reject  **you** . They rejected the idea they have of you right now. It may be because they’re stupid and don’t have a real handle on what you’re really capable of. It could also be because they know exactly what you can do, and you’re not the right fit for them right now. It doesn’t make you any less amazing or talented or skilled. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay,” she reluctantly agreed.

“Now we’re going up to your bed, and I’m going to spoon you,” he said, rubbing her back gently. He was losing the battle against his inner cat, so he let it go. “And we’ll see if my purring makes you feel better.”

A tiny giggle escaped out of her. “I love your purr.”

“I know.” God it was hard to talk around the rumble. “And sometimes we cats do it to soothe others.” He tugged her to her feet. “Let’s test it, yeah?”

**Author's Note:**

> Marichat May, Day 18, Rejection. I wanted to take a little different take on rejection, because Marinette is an artist and it's something she's going to have to get used to. It really does get easier with practice, but once in a while there will be one that got your hopes up and it stings.  
> This is also a continuation of my [Miraculous Acts of Kindness](http://archiveofourown.org/series/714990) series proposed by [Squirrellygirlart](https://squirrellygirlart.tumblr.com/post/160090522213/hey-my-followers-miraculous-acts-of-kindness) on Tumblr. Gigiree does an excellent job with both angst and absurdity. I highly recommend Retrouvailles for the angst and #No R-Agrestes if you want to laugh. You can find them on [Tumblr](http://gigiree.tumblr.com/) or find their writing [here on AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/gigiree/pseuds/gigiree).


End file.
